How to Live as a Wandering Knight

Chapter 23.2: ๐Š๐ง๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ, ๐Œ๐ž๐ซ๐œ๐ก๐š๐ง๐ญ, ๐Œ๐ž๐ซ๐œ๐ž๐ง๐š๐ซ๐ฒ, ๐’๐ฅ๐š๐ฏ๐ž (๐Ÿ–)



Johan ran like hell.

ใ…ค

The notion that big, muscular people are slow was a prejudice. Johanโ€™s sprint was fast enough to catch up with the horses.

ใ…ค

But Johan realized,

ใ…ค

โ€˜๐˜๐˜ตโ€™๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ.โ€™

ใ…ค

He could see silhouettes darting through the night, recognizing them as thieves by the sound of horse hooves.

ใ…ค

His muscles reached their limit from the sprint. Humans couldnโ€™t win a long-distance race against horses. They were already far ahead.

ใ…ค

โ€˜๐˜ ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ.โ€™

ใ…ค

He might have caught them if he had realized sooner that Burren wasnโ€™t alone and dashed out immediately. But now it was too late. . .

ใ…ค

โ€œNo, this was unavoidable.โ€

ใ…ค

Despite feeling ridiculous, Johan controlled his emotions. It was like an unavoidable accident. How could he have foreseen one of the town folks stealing his horse? Itโ€™s not like he could sleep hugging his horse.

ใ…ค

โ€˜๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ. . .!โ€™

ใ…ค

Johan, seizing his mace, threw it with all his might, half relying on luck in the darkness. He couldnโ€™t catch them all, but hoped to catch at least one.

ใ…ค

To show them hell.

ใ…ค

๐“๐ก๐ฎ๐!

ใ…ค

A heavy sound, followed by a thump, indicated someone had fallen.

ใ…ค

โ€˜๐˜‹๐˜ช๐˜ฅ ๐˜ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ?!โ€™

ใ…ค

Johan was surprised. To hit at this distance. . .

ใ…ค

But the horses didnโ€™t stop or change direction. They kept running rhythmically.

ใ…ค

โ€˜๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ, ๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ง๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฃ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฌ. . . ๐˜‹๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ฏ. ๐˜ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜บ.โ€™

ใ…ค

Approaching, Johan kicked the groaning figure. The torchlight revealed Praโ€™s face, unknown to Johan.

ใ…ค

โ€œ. . .Slipped away.โ€

ใ…ค

The fact that he missed the ringleader infuriated Johan the most.

ใ…ค

๐Ÿ”ธ๐Ÿ”ธ๐Ÿ”ธ๐Ÿ”ธ๐Ÿ”ธ๐Ÿ”ธ

ใ…ค

โ€œHeโ€™s coming! Theyโ€™re coming!โ€

ใ…ค

โ€œThat crazy b*stard!!โ€

ใ…ค

Gamson realized that saliva was drooling from his mouth. He was so scared that he couldnโ€™t close his mouth.

ใ…ค

They ran without turning on the lights, but Johan was running towards them with a torch. It was really scary for them. How could a human run that distance so quickly?

ใ…ค

๐“๐ก๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฉ!

ใ…ค

โ€œ???โ€

ใ…ค

Gamson turned his head. He saw Pra screaming and falling from behind.

ใ…ค

โ€˜๐˜๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ?!โ€™

ใ…ค

โ€œShit. . . Run! Run, you stupid horse!โ€

ใ…ค

โ€œWhatโ€™s going on?! What happened?!โ€

ใ…ค

โ€œAss*ole! The knight dastard is chasing us! Run! If we get caught, weโ€™re all dead!โ€

ใ…ค

Pell realized that his friend had fallen, but now there was nothing he could do. Turning the horse around now would mean death.

ใ…ค

โ€œPra. . .! Pra! Iโ€™ll come back to save you later!โ€

ใ…ค

โ€œShut up and look ahead!โ€

ใ…ค

A mercenary and a villager thus successfully escaped the town.

ใ…ค

๐Ÿ”ธ๐Ÿ”ธ๐Ÿ”ธ๐Ÿ”ธ๐Ÿ”ธ๐Ÿ”ธ

ใ…ค

The turmoil ended and dawn arrived.

ใ…ค

The atmosphere of the town was gloomy as if something was weighing it down.

ใ…ค

The village chief, Atanka, was holding his head.

ใ…ค

โ€œThese b*stards worse than goblins. . .!โ€

ใ…ค

They should have been punished when they bragged about their well-off homes. They were spared when they caused minor troubles, but now theyโ€™ve caused a major incident.

ใ…ค

The influential villagers in the town gathered at the village chiefโ€™s house. News spread fast in such a town. They all had different expressions on their faces.

ใ…ค

โ€œVillage chief, we heard that the mercenaries caused trouble. Is that true?โ€

ใ…ค

โ€œHow dare they cause trouble in our town. Shouldnโ€™t we call the local militia?โ€

ใ…ค

โ€œWho got hurt?โ€

ใ…ค

โ€œBurren and Pra are half-dead. The mercenaries have captured them.โ€

ใ…ค

โ€œWhat? The mercenaries dare. . . Call the young men of the town right away to take care of this. . .โ€

ใ…ค

โ€œShut up!!โ€

ใ…ค

Atanka shouted, punching the floor. The villagers were startled by the unusual behavior of the village chief.

ใ…ค

โ€œAm I the only one understanding the situation here? These assholes. . .โ€

ใ…ค

โ€œIsnโ€™t that too harsh, village chief? Are you siding with the merchant you brought in. . .โ€

ใ…ค

โ€œYou. Try handling this yourself! You seem to be defending your kid whoโ€™s causing trouble. Do you think this is a usual situation? The opponent is a real knight! And that merchant is from the Katana Merchant Guild! Do you think this is a matter to be solved with threats?โ€

ใ…ค

โ€œBut theyโ€™re less than ten. . .โ€

ใ…ค

โ€œThose less than ten are people who kill for a living. Local militia? Just some guys whoโ€™ve swung sticks a few times. . . Have they even properly dealt with a goblin?โ€

ใ…ค

โ€œThatโ€™s too harsh! Weโ€™ve faced mercenaries several times!โ€

ใ…ค

โ€œThatโ€™s when the mercenaries are at a disadvantage! We have dozens of men, so they didnโ€™t want to shed blood rashly. What do you think will happen if we really fight? Even if we catch all of those guys, half of us will die and the rest will flee. And mercenaries are not the issue. If it was just mercenaries, we could have ended this by persuasion or threat. The problem is that thereโ€™s a real knight among them. Donโ€™t you really understand what it means to be up against a noble?!โ€

ใ…ค

At the words of the village chief, the townspeople murmured. The name โ€˜nobleโ€™ instilled fear in them. However, the gruff owner of the mill, Burrenโ€™s father, spoke up.

ใ…ค

โ€œSo what if itโ€™s a wandering knight? Thereโ€™s no need to be so scared of a wandering knight dastard, right? No matter how strong he is, we have numbers. Just scare him off and then talk things over when the manager comes. Iโ€™ll lead the talk. . .โ€

ใ…ค

Atanka inhaled sharply, his face red with anger. He refrained from slapping the man right then, only because Atanka had aged. Had he been younger, he would have done it immediately.

ใ…ค

โ€œHow are you going to talk properly?โ€

ใ…ค

โ€œSay that the wandering knight dastard came and caused trouble. . .โ€

ใ…ค

โ€œWhat if the knight tells the manager?โ€

ใ…ค

โ€œThe manager is friendly with us; surely heโ€™ll believe our word, wonโ€™t he?โ€

ใ…ค

โ€œYou mean to say the manager will take our word over that of a noble-born knight dastard. . .?โ€

ใ…ค

The village chief spoke sarcastically, and the townspeople began to grasp the situation.

ใ…ค

No matter how they thought about it, something was off.

ใ…ค

โ€œAlright, letโ€™s say he listens to us. And then the knight dastard goes back to his family and tells them about this, and they tell the Count. Do you think the manager will still take our side then?โ€


Tip: You can use left, right, A and D keyboard keys to browse between chapters.